The No. 42 jersey of Timberwolves all-star forward Kevin Love is, by far, the team's best-selling jersey. With the acquisition of Ricky Rubio, Love finally could get some competition.

In Spain, the point guard wears jersey No. 9 for FC Barcelona. It's unclear whether Rubio, 20, will get that number with the Wolves, but it's available.

"I'm assuming he's going to take over the No. 1 spot," Love, 22, said the other day from Santa Monica, Calif. "I mean, it looks good to have 'Love' on the back of the jersey, but (Rubio) is going to have a lot of flair, and Spanish flavor, and he's going to be fun to watch.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he overtakes me as the No. 1 jersey seller in Minneapolis. Who knows?"

The Twins don't pick until No. 30 overall in the major league draft that begins Monday.

But if they continue at their present pace, chances are good that they'll be picking No. 1 overall in the 2012 draft. The No. 1 prospect for that draft is pitcher-shortstop Lance McCullers, a high school junior at Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit, according to the All-American Athletic Foundation. McCullers has committed to the University of Florida.

Wayzata's Mario Lucia, who is expected to be the top Minnesotan chosen in the NHL entry draft that will be held at the Xcel Energy Center on June 24-25, and his father, Gophers coach Don, are in Toronto this weekend for combine interviews and fitness testing.

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Lucia is projected to be picked late in the first round or early in the second round. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound forward is expected to play next season at either Des Moines of the U.S. Hockey League or Penticton of the British Columbia Hockey League.

Meanwhile, Mike Reilly Jr. of Shattuck-St. Mary's, as well as his brothers, Ryan and Connor, will play for Penticton, British Columbia, next season. Their father, Mike Sr., is a former Gophers standout and Minnesota Wild investor, and each of his sons could be future Gophers. Ryan and Connor last season played for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the USHL.

Also attending the combine in Toronto is 6-4, 195-pound center Joe LaBate of Holy Angels.

Word in Toronto is that Craig MacTavish remains the leading candidate to be the Wild's next coach.

Former Cretin-Derham Hall offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson, a sophomore at Miami, has been named to the Playboy All-America 26-player preseason team that includes Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and running backs LaMichael James of Oregon and Trent Richardson of Alabama.

The 6-foot-8, 345-pound Henderson is one of four offensive linemen named to the team. Henderson, with a 5.26-second clocking in the 40-yard dash, is rated by Draft Scout as the second-best offensive tackle, behind Alabama's D.J. Fluker, for the 2014 NFL draft.

Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards, who won his debut professional heavyweight boxing match last month, will face Larry Butler, also 1-0, on June 24 at Grand Casino Hinckley, where Butler debuted on the same card.

"I watched the guy (Butler) fight, and if we can't knock him out, we better quit; that's just my opinion," Edwards' trainer-manager Jeff Warner said Saturday. "If Ray doesn't knock him out, I'll come out of retirement and knock him out.

"But (Butler) is tough. I can't knock him on that. He's got a lot of heart, but nowhere near the strength and athletic ability of (Edwards). Ray's the superior athlete, and his jab should dominate this man."

Warner said Butler is about 6-3 and 218 pounds. Edwards is 6-5, 259.

"People haven't seen the real Ray yet," Warner said. "He's green, still maturing as a boxer. But he improves literally weekly. Now he's got to go out and do it."

Warner said Edwards' boxing contract is based on several factors, but he's hoping Edwards' payday from the Butler fight is in the $40,000 to $50,000 range.

"When you're starting out, he's not going to make the kind of money he did playing football," Warner said.

It was after ex-Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale accepted the head coaching job of the Houston Rockets last week that 6-10 former Orono and University of Wisconsin star Jon Leuer was invited to Houston for a workout. The Rockets have Nos. 14 and 23 overall picks in the June 23 draft.

Reliever Jesse Crain, whom the Twins declined to re-sign last winter, is 2-1 with a 2.59 earned-run average in 23 games for the Chicago White Sox, having struck out 24 in 24-1/3 innings.

Reliever Matt Guerrier, whom the Twins declined to re-sign last winter, is 2-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 28 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, having struck out 22 in 28-2/3 innings.

Reliever Jon Rauch, whom the Twins declined to re-sign last winter, is 2-2 with a 3.57 ERA in 23 games for the Toronto Blue Jays, having struck out 15 in 22-2/3 innings.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy, whom the Twins traded to Baltimore with infielder Brendan Harris for relievers Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson last season, is hitting .270 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in 28 games for the Orioles.

Second baseman Orlando Hudson, whom the Twins declined to re-sign last winter, is hitting .217 with no homers and seven RBIs in 36 games for the San Diego Padres.

Former Gophers hockey captain Ron Peltier, a Johnson High School grad, is a partner with renowned investor Warren Buffett, and the pair continue to acquire a myriad of companies.

The Twins were among major league scouts watching Centennial High lefty pitcher Austin Maslowski during playoff games Friday at Midway Stadium. Maslow--ski, who is headed to the University of Arizona, should be chosen in this week's baseball draft.

Player to watch: Coon Rapids first baseman-pitcher Logan Shore, who is one of the best sophomore players in Minnesota in a long time.

The Howard Pulley pro-am summer basketball league, which has played for years at the Salvation Army gym in St. Paul, is moving to the High Performance Academy in Eagan and will begin June 20 with games Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m through July 29. The free admission league will include most incoming Gophers.

Former Upper Midwest Golden Gloves champions Mike Evgen and Gary Struss of St. Paul are organizing a dozen amateur boxing matches for Oakdale's Summerfest at 1 p.m. June 26 at Walton Park.

Benilde-St. Margaret's incoming senior guard Isaiah Zierden, considered the top high school basketball shooter in the state, received a call last season from Final Four participant Virginia Commonweath. Wofford College (S.C.) is also interested in Zierden.

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly, in Minneapolis recently to speak at an alumni gathering, asked what alumni tell him about the football team: "Run the ball more and win all your games. And then we'll complain why you didn't run it enough when you do win. It's high expectations, but it's what you expect at Notre Dame. My job is to get those expectations fulfilled, and those are to win football games."

Hall of famer Bert Blyleven will receive gifts from the Twins when they retire his No. 28 uniform on July 16 at Target Field. Blyleven will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 24.

Not allowing alcohol to be served in private suites at Gophers sports venues next fall will result in $1.8 million less in revenues for the University of Minnesota.

That was John Hannahan, father of Cleveland Indians third baseman Jack Hannahan, getting to watch his son on TV against the Texas Rangers last week at J.R. Mac's pub in St. Paul. Although Jack is batting .231, the former Gopher ranks 15th in the AL in hitting with runners in scoring position.

Local author Dave Wright's "162-0: Imagine a Twins Perfect Season," has sold slightly more than 3,000 copies since being published last year.

Twins curator Clyde Doepner, asked what was the most important date in the organization's history: "June 18, 1954. That's the day they signed Harmon Killebrew."

Former Wayzata-Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis recently visited tornado victims in Joplin, Mo.

The Minnesota State-Augustana football game Oct. 27 in Mankato, Minn., will be one of six in NCAA Division II games that will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

George Thole, 72, the legendary Stillwater High football coach who led the Ponies to four state championships before retiring, joked that had he known there were pedicurists who could have tended to his tender feet, he would have coached another 10 years.

Former Gophers basketball player Kris Humphries, who is a player representative for the New Jersey Nets, asked his guess as to whether, with a NBA labor agreement set to expire June 30, there will be a season next fall: "I know we're a ways away, but we've got a long summer coming up. I'm hoping and I'm guessing. It's a great business, and a lot of people have done well for themselves."

The University of St. Thomas, which plays in Division III, owns the best won-lost record among 1,017 NCAA men's basketball programs the past three seasons at 83-8. The best Division II program is Findlay (Ohio) at 84-11, and Kansas is best in Division I at 95-14.

Hazeltine National, which will host the 2016 Ryder Cup, is back in shape after a 20-month renovation that includes a new clubhouse, restaurant, golf shop and learning center.

Gary Schumacher, who was a top scorer for the 1960 Austin basketball team that lost to fabled Edgerton in the Minnesota state high school tournament, died at age 69 in Sioux Falls, S.D., last week.

The odds of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson appearing on the cover of the "Madden 2012" video game are 12-to-1, behind QBs Aaron Rodgers (2-to-3) of the Green Bay Packers and Michael Vick (3-to-2) of the Philadelphia Eagles, according to bodog.com.

Cretin-Derham Hall grad Freddie Weinke is headed to St. Olaf College as running backs coach.

The Midwest is not represented for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA baseball regionals. Among No. 1 seeds are Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Oregon and California.

Gophers baseball coach John Anderson figures there could be North and South divisions nationally for college baseball within a few years.

DON'T PRINT THAT

Pssst: During negotiations with the Twins and Joe Mauer that concluded with a $184 million, eight-year contract for the Twins catcher, there was a brief chat about the possibility of an out clause if the Twins, currently 17 games under .500, were not to continue to be a contending team. That notion was dropped, though, and the deal remains for a guaranteed $23 million per season.

The Timberwolves are not expected to trade their No. 2 overall pick in the June 23 draft because the player the Wolves are expected to choose, 6-foot-9, 250-pound Derrick Williams of Arizona, is simply too talented to pass up. That could lead, though, to the Wolves trading 6-9, 235-pound small forward Michael Beasley.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, desperate for a point guard, almost assuredly will choose Kyrie Irving of Duke with the No. 1 pick.

The Twins have reached out to several players from the 1991 Atlanta Braves to participate in their 20-year World Series championship anniversary weekend Aug. 5-7 at Target Field.

The Twins would like to bring back John Smoltz, who lost 1-0 in 10 innings to Jack Morris in the unforgettable Game 7 at the Metrodome, as well as Ron Gant, who in a controversial play at first base after hitting a single was called out when the Twins' Kent Hrbek nudged him off the bag.

And Lonnie Smith, who while at bat to start Game 7 turned to catcher Brian Harper and shook his hand in a goodwill gesture.

The Twins would like to re-enact - in good taste, of course - those memorable moments from 20 years ago. So far, they have received no commitments from the former Braves.

Edina Country Club suffered vandalism on its No. 10 green last week when a small fire was started in the cup on the green and accelerant was poured on different parts of the green. Bird seed also was spread across the green.

Former Gophers All-American running back Bob McNamara, closing a beautiful eulogy of younger brother Pinky at his funeral mass at St. Patrick's in Edina last week: "He was an All-American brother."

Late Twins hall of famer Harmon Killebrew might not have been the prototype logo for Major League Baseball, but his likeness was the official logo for the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association logo. That was confirmed by MLBPAA board chairman Jim Hannon.

OVERHEARD

Ex-Timberwolves interim coach Kevin McHale on his new job as coach of the Houston Rockets: "I loved what I did with NBA TV, and I got the itch to coach again. They have a lot of players in Houston who like to compete. ...That really sold me on it."